Process Launched To Find Host of 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup

The 2010 FIBA World Championship was staged in Turkey, with the first ever FIBA Basketball World Cup to be held in Spain this summer

FIBA, the world governing body for basketball, announced today the launch of the international tender process to identify the host nation for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, with an invitation to express an interest (click here) distributed to all National Federations.

The FIBA Basketball World Cup is the flagship event of the basketball calendar, with a global TV audience of 800 million across 171 countries. The 2019 event marks a new era and will see its greatest field of 32 countries line up, increasing the pool of world famous stars and the global appeal of the event. The 32 countries will meet for 16 days of competition, playing 92 games in total.

National Federations have the opportunity to bid for both the 2019 and 2023 editions of the FIBA Basketball World Cup if FIBA decides to award both events at the same time.

"Basketball is a truly global sport and we are proud to share our flagship event with the world," said FIBA Secretary General and International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Patrick Baumann.

"2019 will be our largest event yet and will mark our place in the global sporting calendar. We are looking for a host that can stage the most prestigious sporting event of the year. It will be the culmination of a two-year qualification process and promises to be a winning combination for players, supporters and hosts.

"FIBA welcomes joint bids from several National Federations to co-host the 2019 and/or 2023 edition(s) of the FIBA Basketball World Cup.

"As well as competing for the number one prize in basketball - the Naismith Trophy - the teams will also have their eyes on securing qualification for the 2020 Olympic Games. Seven teams will secure their ticket to Tokyo directly based on their performance at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, while 16 more will earn a spot to FIBA's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments."

FIBA's flagship event has taken place in world class locations around the globe - Argentina, Brazil, Canada, USA, Japan, Turkey and pitted the game's greatest names against each other.

The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, the first World Cup ever, will take place in Spain from 30 August to 14 September. For more information, go to www.fiba.com/spain2014.

The growing demand of national federations, cities and nations to host the FIBA Basketball World Cup has led FIBA to develop a new structured bid process, which will see its conclusion in May 2015, when the FIBA Central Board will decide on the 2019 hosts.

The bidding process to host the 18th edition of FIBA's flagship event in five years' time is open to all of its member national federations. Those that want to express an interest have until 9 June 2014 to make their submission.